COE prices lower, except for motorbikes

Singapore

VEHICLE certificate of entitlement (COE) premiums mostly fell in the latest round of bidding on Wednesday, except for motorcycles (Category D).

COE for Category A (cars up to 1,600cc and 130bhp) ended at S$62,002, down from S$65,001 in the previous round of bidding. In Category B (cars above 1,600cc or 130bhp), the COE fell to S$70,890, from S$76,889 previously. For goods vehicles and buses (Category C), the COE closed at S$52,101, down from S$55,012.

For the open category, which can be used for any vehicle type but ends up mainly for bigger cars, the COE fell to SS$71,921, from S$76,790 previously.

Only the premium for motorcycles (Category D) went up to S$5,504 from S$4,889. Eugene Mah, general manager of motorcycle retailer Mah Pte Ltd, said this was due to the drastic reduction in COE quota for motorcycles, which has been going for two years now.

The quota went from over 1,000 in the February-July 2013 period, to about 700 in the February-April 2014 period, and further fell to less than 600 in the February-April 2015 period. This drove up COE premiums for motorcycles as demand outweighed supply, with the average monthly registrations exceeding the allocated COE quota, he said. "Dealers are now bidding higher to secure the

COEs, lest they have none to sell or register their bikes. They desperately need to move their products," he added. And as dealers put in higher bids, this further sets the benchmark for future bids.

As for Cat A, B and C, their COEs likely fell due to higher quotas allocated to the February-April 2015 period, compared to the preceding three months. This contrasted with the 10 per cent cut in quota for motorcycles.

Analyse historical COE data with The Business Times' interactive tool at http://btd.sg/coetracker